This is another in a long line of Miracles for Margaret.
Margaret Romph received her FES rehabilitation bike through insurance and can now begin an integral part of her rehabilitation in the comfort of her newly remodeled rehabilitation room.
Earlier this year, Margaret, her older sister Erin and their grandmother were involved in a serious accident, just outside of the Jefferson City city limits.
The accident left Erin and their grandmother with minor injuries and Margaret, who was 5 at the time, with life threatening injuries.
Spinal cord injuries have left her wheelchair bound. Though she has come a long way since her initial prognosis, her parents, Eric and Sherline, are determined to make sure Margaret has every advantage available to her.
One of their first steps is providing Margaret with all the opportunities that were included in a two-month stay at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) in Maryland, the same hospital that treated Christopher Reeve following his spinal cord injury.
Almost from the first day she was at KKI, Margaret was using an FES bike in daily therapy.
The bike provides electrical stimulation to targeted muscle groups, while Margaret is using either her arms or legs, one at a time.
The hope, Sherline said, is that the impulses will help her nerves fire, then help her brain to make the connection once again.
Since arriving home June 30, Margaret has not had access to the bike. Having gone several months without using the FES bike, her muscles have weakened, and strengths and weaknesses have changed.
By Angie Hutschreider
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